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The Long Trail, Fall 1997

DAY ONE – SEPTEMBER 24, 1997
A chilly first day but gorgeous. A beautiful beginning to the hike. Winter is definitely coming, I know, I can feel it. Many things have not been tested, I am reliant on my experience from previous hikes. 10 miles today. The trail was fairly rugged coming up the Journey’s End trail and than I was ejected out of the forest into the cut boundary between US and Canada. It took me some time to realize where I was because the view was vibrant. Shocking Bursts from the foliage. Peregwinn is hiking with me right now, a doctor from South Dakota. Coming down off Doll Peak was a bit of a drop . . . Supper . . . cool nights . . . tired today. Psyched for the climb up Jay tomorrow. I breathe ignorance, talking with Peregwinn makes me feel like I should go back to school.

DAY TWO – SEPTEMBER 25

In at Tillotson Camp with Forage who showed me angel wings (mushroom ). A Long 14.9 miles. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a tad easier. Psyched for tomorrow actually, every day it gets a little easier. Today had me plumb tuckered out. HAYSTACK was an extremely rugged climb after 10 miles. I tend to be really quiet lately. What am I searching for out here? Solitude? The northern part of the LT is certainly remote, rugged, beautiful. The body needs rest after today. Where is PIKA? I may be running into her soon. SLEEP SPAWNS the Dead man ancient.

DAY 3 – SEPTEMBER 26
A good day of walking. The 3rd & 4th days are always the toughest I think your body is in chaotic adjustment Corliss Camp is a honey of a shelter I’m here with Jack Frost. The connection is that I met his sister LP at IMP and gave her my address for him. Anyway, we met on the trail. Small world. A really misty, slurpy, no view day as I’ve said before. The stove is pumpin. I’ll be sweat, sweat, sweatin tonight. I’m starting to jive on the trail working out the kinks. Got to adjust the pack. Talk is FREE – Enjoy the Silence

DAY 4 – SEPTEMBER 27

LONG DAY on the Long Trail, tired from the BEER I drank in Johnson. An owl calls in the distance, good medicine. Exuberant for Mt. Mansfield tomorrow. A bit apprehensive about spending a lonely night in the shelter but sleep approaches fast, no time to think. The miles will be long tomorrow would like to get an early jump. Had a good time with Jack Frost today – quite a character. WHERE’S PIKA? I wonder about her. I’ve done 55 miles.
YEEHAW.

SLEEP!

the kinks. Got to adjust the pack. Talk is FREE – Enjoy the Silence

SEPTEMBER 28 Through an intentional cut
Mansfield enters the brain.
The chin of the mouse was
Spiking its way up
To a blue sea of sky
Wind shivers the firs
Man’s wreckage of recreation
Fingers of the hillsides
Interlocking to a fist
I thrust mine up and shout
Nothing
Words to no justice
To what the heart knows
Monumental Presidential
Cutting the haze
Commanding my gaze
As is this chocolate bar
Summit of Mt. Mansfield

The winds blowin so hard on Mansfield its hard to walk. The Goofers freeze in their cotton. The sum glints off Lake Champlain. I test the winds durability. I am left alone in my wind-shattered silence. The southern greens look wonderful. I am falling in love with this LONG TRAIL. The sunlight makes me sleepy the wind almost supports my weight. I point the Presies (Presidential Range) out to some college folks.

So good meeting Jay Drake who went to Mahar with me middle school, old school. All around good guy. Off to Butler. I got a plane to catch.

The day drags on, Coming Down the Forehead was the most mentally taxing operation I’ve done in some time. I’m not so sure about the 16.6 tomorrow. We’ll have to take a gander at the book.

SEPTEMBER 29 & 30
Yesterday was a long slog in the rain. I probably did close to 18 miles and paid for it. Hitched a ride to Burlington “THIRD VOLKSWAGENS A CHARM” Feels good to be taking a day off I did slog pretty hard, a just plain wet day. While I was eating at PUFFER Shelter contemplating the miles ahead I heard a moose bellowing and it felt like it was right next to/on top of me. It had my attention to say the least. I’m convinced the muscles will feel better after a day of complete rest.

OCTOBER 1
Camel’s Hump Summit is an alpine wonderland sitting behind a rock the wind is quite tame but I’m sure I’ll get a beating when I pop out of this crevice.

Six of us in Montclaire Glen Lodge.. fed & turning in. I enjoyed myself immensely coming off Camels Hump nice terrain. Snow-covered trees. The hint of winter in the air. Today was simply magical. There is no other word to describe it. Did Pika get off the trail? Worth Mtn. Lodge. I had not heard hide nor hair from her.

All of my existence
Floods out of my frame
And bond with gushing wind
The elemental teacher of winter
If you obliviate desire
Does it elevate you higher?
Nature wears a coat
Of a virgin winter’s elegance
As we ponder slack jawed
And head-scratching
While contemplating our immense good fortune
Walking among the elementals
Before their true arrival.

OCTOBER 2
A good, almost relaxing day. Misty and foggy in the beginning over the Allens and then it burnt off on Burnt Rock Mtn. How fitting! All day I contemplated tomorrows ridge walk. If I can wake up early, I may try to do 20 tomorrow. Who know’s? Good fair weather is supposed to be headed this way. Bring it on. Enough about the future right now I am the only one in Glen Ellen Lodge. Nice old rustic thing. The mice are probably awful. Saw Amy Rosen from AMC today. That’s some wild weird stuff. The morning snow made everything magical until it melted. Today was poetry.

Turning foliage
Cloaks the peaks
The state of vermud
Trees spout leaks
A quiet, snowy blanket
Emblazoned by the sun
Wetness ensues.
It was another slog-hog day.

OCTOBER 3
The foliage was prime today 20.4 miles today. The feet paid dearly. I’m whipped. Two nice folks in the shelter (Raphael from Goddard and Courtney from Middlebury). I was really into doing miles today. The weather said go – so I did. The insoles I put in my boots started the blister-a-thon. WARMER tonight. What does tomorrow hold in store? Drier weather? A slow day, I think.

Roughly mile 135

I am halfway through the trip. Feels good. I think I’ll just cruise into Rutland. That was a big YAWN. The gaping man expandeth. Well I’m plumb tuckered out. SLEEP CALLS.

OCTOBER 4
Morning, fog still enshrouds the cabin. I am not exactly awake. Feels good to take a slow morning in the wake of yesterdays 20 miler. Chatting with Courtney & Raphael. The sunrise yesterday was most incredible. The way the colors changed came back after fading. The ridge walk south . . . later – after dinner. Good trail magic from group in the shelter. BEER PISTACHIOS, BEANS, BREAD. I’m well fed as I think about the miles tomorrow. They sure look a ton easier after Brandon Gap. We’ll see. Still unsure. Wood smoke, yech! Good people in the shelter. Not much inspiration today a slow 9.6. BEDTIME.

OCTOBER 5
Just me and the bugs at Royton’s Rest. I affirm good slumber tonight. Today I realized how much I really enjoy the act of hiking, how I find myself in it and how I lose myself in it. It was a long day 20.3 from SUCKA BROOK SHELTER. I hallucinated about eating Chinese food with my mother. Today was walking it was almost magic how I came down into BRANDON GAP and the terrain changed Wham it was like snapping your fingers. Met good people today, they fed me. Into town tomorrow a little R & R is on the list, but I’m sure I’ll be running around endlessly. Pizza, Beer, Ice Cream. I met a man from GERMANY and he got me stoked talking about the ALPS. I’m definitely going to pursue this info. Oh, almost forgot, the sun came out today and it did lift my spirits. If you let your imagination run free there’s no telling what it will do.

Walking was bliss
As the sun appeared
No climbs, no descents
Just flat trail
How can this be?
The hiker wonders
He stood unaware
Of another dimension

OCTOBER 6
Lounging in the grass at the INN at Long Trail. Fat from the Pizza – Beers & Guinness. The Guinness was weak but thick. The traffic slides by on Route 4 as I wait for my ride. It’s hot, humid & sunny about 77°, blistering for October. Tourists out in force for the foliage which is starting to climax here in the southern mountains. Oh, got cut off from my entry because some girls had fried their daddy’s SAAB. Someone forgot to put coolant in. Whoops. As I was helping them my ride came and swept me into Rutland. More Beer, laundry and insoles Ala CVS. Worked for stay and got offered a job for this winter as a baker in a restaurant. Keeping the options open. The hot tub was nice & needed.

OCTOBER 7
Going in up to Killington today. Can’t wait for breakfast. Called home got the scoop on Galen’s letter and Larry Helfant calling me for a ride to Acadia. Completely stoked on that one.

I’ll have to call him and see what’s up. Why not right now. No answer from Larry but I’ll bet he’s psyched to hear from me. Talked to Linsay as well. She’s in a tricky situation with her father’s illness and the responsibilities of the farm. This made her leave the trail in RUTLAND. I took a very slow day from Sherburne Pass just 5 miles to Cooper Lodge. Highest shelter on LT. No window it will certainly be a gusty night. Today the weather was picture perfect, waiting at the lodge to ascend the summit later for sunset. I’m pretty sure it will rock the earth.

Worker Drones
Building an awful access road
Scarified earth
Wide berth
Time equals destruction
Humans have too much
Power, control, money
All lead inevitably
To utter mayhem and destruction
It is held guised in the fun recreation
A subtle dupe
For one unwilling
To inspect behind the chicanery
Skeptical yet voiceless
I ask you to wake up

I sit and enjoy the last rays of the day. It was good to talk to my madre and get informed. A crow kucks in the distance. . . . . up on the peak near sunset.

The hills glow an old autumn yellow
The wind craves the night
A generator’s hum
The sun city mountains
The tree river valleys
The trail feet mud
Everything is coagulating
Merging to the center
Oneness
Hills spread wide Sharp spikes and domes
We call the mountains “HOME”

So much time today less than 100 miles left as I snuggle in for the night. Nice just sitting, observing, thinking, looking forward, reminiscing.

OCTOBER 8
A poem from yesterday I left in the shelter journal.

Mountains rise out of primordial goop
In the fading yellow daylight
I see through winds without pane
Breezes lazily drift
No sounds except flatulence and far off cities
Suddenly the A.T. exposes the world
Outside an L.T. microbe
We are dipping ourselves into nothing
And realizing the magnitude of everything
May all hiker (souls, soles) find peace on their TREK.

Weatherwise – I couldn’t ask for a clearer day. The skies were as blue, deep wells like Linsay’s eyes. Gosh, that woman has me spellbound even though I barely know her. It was more or less strolling today, bumped into Swan Song again (saw her at David Logan) and Walking Stick a northbounder on the L.T. – he knew some people at COA. Donnie, Justin, Mindy and Andy and after lunch crossed paths with a couple of section hikers. I really wonder if I am going to move on through Mass. after I get to Williamstown. It depends completely on Andy. Plus, if I had a free week I could visit a certain person in NY. I guess what it boils down to is the fact that I miss people. I think I’d like to be hiking with someone just sharing the process. Haven’t I been solitary long enough? I am convinced that the rest of this trail will be a quality experience. To rest the weary bones. Sleep.

OCTOBER 9
What in incredibly hot day. At least up in the seventies with humidity and haziness. I hope we get a T-storm to cool it all off. Not much sleep last night. But I think the water will help me slumber. I do miss people. This is the 3rd night alone at a shelter. It’s just nice to process with someone or share stories, etc. I think this is what may send me home after completion of the L.T. – the end is upon me, if someone was sharing this with me I might feel differently. I’m basing my decision on whether or not to hike thru Mass. on Andy. If he says “let’s” do it, I’m with him, if not there are so many things to do . . . .tomorrow should be fun Peru Peak and Styles and Bromley then into Manchester. I met Elly today and she gave me some bread and beanz nice girl.
SLEEPZZZZZZZ

. . . . Middle of the night

What a hot, sultry one it is, the moons coming to and brightness ensues. I’ve been cutting “Demon sweat” in my sleeping bags. Back to dreamland. . . . .

OCTOBER 10
Summit of Peru Peak – the sun’s intensity warms me this morning, the wind sounds like ice, hopefully it will kick out the tropical air, feels like good weather for backpacking. It’s all haze in the valley except this one glinting body of water. The sun made me sneeze, feet feel better with the insoles. Yatta, Yatta, Yatta, lets get trekking. Stuck on Styles Peak where the view is a bit better. Huge gray cumulus clouds break up and occasionally swallow the sun. It’s sooooo wonderful to hear, feel and see the wind again it truly lifts my spirits. On to Mad Tom Notch.

Bromley summit – the wind howls ferociously but the warm sun delays its bite for another day. Visibility is limited. The tower quivers. On to Manchester molester. . . .

OCTOBER 11 – Day 18
Sitting at Prospect Rock, looking down into Downer Glen and at Manchester and some mountains in the distance, maybe the “Daks”. Saw Muzzy and Craig yesterday in Manchester. Steve spotted me from the McDonald’s. A red-tail hawk just shot across the glen as I was writing. Today has gorgeous promise. Spruce Peak Shelter is definitely a place worth returning to . . . . with a female companion during wintertime . . . A truck rolls by I’m gone. . . .

Excellent day of trekking sat and chatted with a fisherman at Stratton Pond. Gorgeous little farm. Stratton was a total sleeper climb just long, that’s all. The descent was a cupcake. 33 miles left. I can hardly fathom it, come so far. Saw Mom and Chris, they took the wrong trail up the mountain because they had a shitty map. Still caught them as I was coming down through and we hiked and chatted. It’s funny but I’m really looking forward to going home, so much is happening right NOW!

OCTOBER 12

The hills show brown
And green spines
Pockets of dull yellow
Cling to the last rays
I am cutting a bond
With the long trail
A brief relationship, 3 weeks
Solitude and people
Intertwining for magic
The footpath sucks everyone
And foolish ideals into mud
It crooks the back
The joints, the feet
Emblazoned in the mind
Of every wandering soul
A vision of nature

Looks like a big day tomorrow. Better get to Melville and eat. I think my ego has changed since doing the Long Trail maybe its because I’m producing too much testosterone. Yeah that might be it. Tomorrow will end it. I wonder if I’ll make it for the P.O. by 4, I’ll probably cut it close usually do. Tomorrow the icing on the LT cake. Tired from the 17.4 today.

OCTOBER 13
The day has come, I realized last night that the P.O. is not open because it’s a friggin holiday. On to the shelter to scare the f… out of the weekenders.

The sun warms my back
Comfortable days of light
Attracted to a shirt
The garment is unclean
Rotten, filthy, vile
Reeking with every disgusting
Odor imaginable
Birds chirp and hop
The social flyers
Motivation sink into my skull

High cirrus at the powerline. Rain coming? Non-descript view everything smoothed down or flattening out. Yes the best, or most rewarding way to do the Long Trail is to start from Mass I feel. Getting my daily dose of radiation sitting under these high tension wires. I said GAWDDAMN!

OKTOBER 16
So I’m off the trail, back to real, uh, life. LIFE. I sit here pondering it.

The smoke curls
Off hand rolled death
I write on the funk
Live emanations of jive
The in outside
Cool and raw
An average fall
The pen escapes by hand
I am unknowingly in pajamas
Still not quite able
To wake up
Jump out of the unconscious
Into the future
Catalysts?
Drag your soul up above
The chainsaws and cars
To a realization
That we’ll all be dead soon enough

Still in the same place, the only consistent, constant part of my life is the ever-changing trying to destroy “the same” ---> However,